Over the course of history, undergarments dedicated to providing support for, and/or for accentuating a woman's physique, particularly her breasts, have changed, in part, according to societal norms. It is well known that the Minoan women living on the Greek isle of Crete, around 2500 B.C., wore bra-like garments that served to lift their bare breasts out from their clothes. During the 1500s and later, corsets were worn, which tended to provide upward support for the wearer's breasts. In the latter part of the 1800s, the corset was split by some into a girdle for torso support and an upper device suspended from the shoulders for breast support. Such devices are found in various historic sources and reported in modern published accounts such as “Bra: A Thousand Years of Style, Support & Seduction,” by Stephanie Pedersen.
During the late Victorian period in the United Kingdom, a “bust bodice,” commonly referred to then as a “BB”, was dedicated to providing basic shape and support for a woman's breasts by creating a mono-bosom effect, with examples being found today in English museums (see http://museums.leics.gov.uk/collections-on-line/GetObjectAction.do?objectKey=103636). The bust bodice was essentially just a frilled, white cotton cloth that surrounded both breasts and was supported by a pair of straps, and fastened at the back by laces and/or a button.
Earliest use of the term “brassiere” in the United States is considered to be by the Syracuse Evening Herald in March 1893, in referring to a six-inch straight boned band being necessary for fashionable gowns at the time, while Vogue magazine used the term in 1907, and it was first adopted into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1911. However, first use of the term “Brassiere” in a patent was by Mary Jacob in the 1914 U.S. Pat. No. 1,115,674. But ironically, although she is often credited as inventing the first “modern bra,” the device did not comprise cups for individual support of the wearer's breasts, and more closely resembled its progeny in the form of the bust bodice. Some tend to credit H. S. Lesher for his “Combined Breast Pads and Arm-Pit Shield” shown in the 1859 U.S. Pat. No 24,033, as perhaps being the inventor of the bra, since part of its function is described as providing “a symmetrical rotundity to their breasts,” Certain historians attribute Luman L. Chapman's 1863 U.S. Pat. No. 40,907 for an improved “Corset,” as being the “proto-brassiere.” Olivia P. Flynt also received multiple U.S. patents for articles of clothing, and in 1876 received U.S. Pat. No 173,611 for a “Bust Supporter”, which states, among other things, that it “adapted to ladies having large breasts,” that it “was specially designed as a bust support and improver” being designed for “producing a more comely outline and comfortable feeling than the corset,” and that it “will be used instead of and take the place of the corset.” Many others may justifiably attribute invention of the first modern bra to be the device that was patented and unveiled at the Exhibition of 1889 in France, by corset-maker Herminie Cadolle. She displayed her bra-like device—part of a two-piece corset, that was called Bien-être,” meaning “Well-Being” (although it was initially called the “corselet gorge”), which was sold as a health aid. The first patenting within the U.S. of something closely resembling the modern bra was by Marie Tucek for her “Breast Supporter.” The Tucek breast supporter received protection under the 1893 U.S. Pat. No. 494,397, and comprised a pair of cups that provided support through a pair of shoulder straps, and outwardly resembled the contemporary brassiere.
Today, a woman's bra functions not only to provide basic support, but also must fulfill ever increasing demands in terms of it being fashionable and shape-enhancing. One current demand is that the woman be able to use the bra to appear professional by daytime, which in some social circles or offices may entail appearing more conservatively, but once leaving the professional environment to enjoy late afternoon and early evening social events, the woman may desire to use the same bra to enhance her figure and appear more voluptuous, even seductively enhanced and suggestive, without having to change garments.
Although there are some prior art bras that function to enhance a women's bust line, such as the series of patents to Redenius (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,452,260, 7,497,760, 7,645,179, and 7,677,951), each of these methods of enhancement undesirably causes inward rotation of the women's bust, which is detrimental to the health of the breast tissue. The brassiere invention disclosed herein permits a woman to achieve positive results, in which she may either tone down or accentuate her figure, but without the unhealthy consequences associated with the prior art.